Apparatus for staking and forming tabs



Dec. 3, 1963 R. B. THOMAS APPARATUS FOR STAKING AND FORMING TABS Original Filed Dec. 15', 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR RALPH B. THO

ATTORNEY Dec. 3, 1963 R. B. THOMAS 3,112,786

APPARATUS FOR STAKING AND FORMING TABS Original Filed Dec. 15, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 PT g: 2 F1 9-; Q

INVENTOR RALPH a. THOM BY c I y A ORNEY Dec. 3, 1963 R. B. THOMAS 3,112,786

APPARATUS FOR STAKING AND FORMING TABS Original Filed Dec. 15, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR RALPH B- THMMS United States Patent 3,112,786 APFARATUS FOR STAKIPJG AND FORMING TABS Ralph B. Thomas, Salem, Mass, assignor, by mesne assignments, to Sylvania Electric Products Inc, Wilmington, DeL, a corporation of Delaware Qriginal application Dec. 15, 1358, Ser. No. 780,551, now Patent No. 3,068,555, dated Dec. 18, 1962. Divided and this application Nov. 3, 1960, Ser. No. 72,266

3 Claims. (Cl. 153-46) This invention relates to the manufacture of electrical devices having lead-in wires extending therefrom and bases or caps to which the lead-in wires are connected for the establishment of electrical connections therethrough. More particularly, this invention relates to the assembly and fabrication of the base or cap components in the manufacture of electric lamps and the like.

In the co-pending application of Stanley C. Shappell and Ralph B. Thomas, Serial Number 736,619, filed September 26, 1958, entitled Lamp Base, there is shown and described a particular type of lamp base construction. In the specific embodiment of this invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described below, particular reference is made to a base of this construction. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the method of this invention may be practiced, and the apparatus may be modified as required, in the manufacture of other base assemblies.

The method of this invention may be practiced on automatic, semi-automatic or manually-operated equipment. In the specific embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, the method is depicted as practiced on a piece of manually-operated equipment, viz., an arbor press.

In the drawings.

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational View of an arbor press, showing particularly a pin-staking assembly de pending from the arbor press ram and in alignment with the work disposed on an adapter jig.

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational View showing the pin-staking assembly in alignment with but spaced from the work disposed on an adapter jig.

FIGURE 3 is an elevational View of the work components before staking has been effected.

FIGURE 4 is a front elevational view, partly in section, showing the pin-staking assembly in operative relationship with respect to the work.

FIGURE 5 is an elevational view, partly in section, of the work components after staking has been effected.

FIGURE 6 is a front elevational view, partly in section, showing the pin bending and flattening assembly in alignment with but spaced from the work disposed on an adapter ji over which a slotted spacing anvil has been positioned.

FIGURE 7 is a front elevational view showing the flattening iron of the pin bending and flattening assembly in engagement with the work at an early stage in its operation thereon.

FIGURE 8 is a front elevational view of the pin bending and flattening assembly, showing the relative disposition of the several components thereof during the final stage of the pin bending and flattening operation.

FIGURE 9 is a perspective View of the completed article of work.

Referring now to the drawings, particularly FIGURE 1 thereof, the arbor press comprises a base it a frame 12 upstanding thereon, and a housing 14 mounted on the top of the frame 12. A shaft 16, extending through and rotatably supported within housing 14, is provided with a pinion (not shown) intermediate the ends thereof, and an operating lever 18 depending from an end thereof. A ram 20, having a rack (not shown) formed thereon intermediate the ends thereof, extends through and depends from housing 14. The pinion of shaft 16 meshes with the rack of ram 2t), thus providing the means through which manipulation of operating lever 18 is translated into the stroke of ram 2 0. The base 10 of the arbor press has a base plate 22 mounted on the top surface thereof. Dowels (not shown) upstanding on the base plate 22 provide means for effecting accurate positioning of an adapter jig 24. A pin-staking assembly 26, attached to and depending from the ram 20 is in alignment with the work disposed on the adapter jig 24.

The pin-staking assembly 26 (FIGS. 2 and 4) comprises a crossbar 2S and a pair of toggle arm crimping jaws 3t) pivotally mounted on pins 32 at the extremities of the crossbar, the freedom of movement of the jaws 39 being limited by pins 34 extending through elongated slots 36 in crossbar 28. The work seated on the adapter jig 24 comprises a disc 1 of insulating material and a pair of pins 3 (one of which is shown in FIGS. 3-5) extending therethrough. Each of the pins 3 is a hollow member provided with a beaded shoulder 5 abutting the lower face of the disc 1 as shown in FIGURE 3. The pin may be a two-diameter member, as shown in the drawings, depending on the desired size of the tab on the one hand and the receptacle with which the electrical device is used on the other hand. With the work components shown in FIGURE 3 seated on the adapter jig 24 with a pin 3 in axial alignment with the ram 20 as shown in FIGURE 2, the operating lever I8 of the arbor press (FIG. 1) is manipulated to effect a downward stroke of ram 2%. As the ram 20 moves downwardly, the V edges of the jaws 30 contact the top surface of the disc 1 (FIG. 4) on opposite sides of pin 3. Further downward movement of the ram 2% causes a cam action of the pivotally mounted jaws 30 on the top surface of the disc 1 and effects a closing of the jaws with respect to one another and a pinching of the pin 3 therebetween. Simultaneously, the direct downward thrust of the ram Ell presses the disc 1 against the beaded shoulder 5 of the pin 3. These combined forces lock the pin in place, the beaded shoulder 5 thereof being drawn tightly against the lower face of the disc and the lateral elongation thereof, due to the pinching action of the jaws 3i overlying the upper face of the disc. The condition of the work after the operation of the pinstaking assembly thereon is shown in FIGURE 5. After one of the pins 3 has been staked as described, the position of the work on the adapter jig Z4 is altered to place the other pin 3 in axial alignment with the pin-staking assembly 26 and a similar operation is performed thereon.

The next operation on the work is performed by a tabforming assembly 33 which is illustrated in detail in FIG- URE 6. In the specific embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, the pin-staking assembly 26 (FIG. 1) is detached from the ram 20 after it has performed the above-described operation on the work, and the tab-forming assembly 38 is substituted therefor to permit the tab-forming operation on the work to be accomplished. The tab-forming operation is pera formed by the tab-forming assembly 38 in cooperation with a spacin anvil 40 which is slipped over the adapter jig 24 on which the work is seated. The spacing anvil do is provided with a V slot for pin clearance. The spacing anvil 4 3 is further characterized by a raised portion :1 on the top right surface thereof as viewed in FEGS. 6-8, the elevation thereof being approximately equal to twice the wall thickness of the hollow pin 3.

The tab-forming assembly 38 (H6. 6) comprises ram sleeve 44 attached to and depending from ram 29 and a plunger d6, loaded by spring 48, disposed within sleeve 44 and retained therein by a cam 50 attached to the sleeve Q4. The plunger 46 is provided with a depending bracket 52, preferably formed integral therewith, which supports a rod 54 on which a rocker arm 56 is mounted. The rocker arm 56 serves as a mounting member on which cam follower 58 and flattening iron 6b are mounted. The cam follower 50' is biased against cam 56 by a flat spring 62, one end of whicn is attached to the bracket 52 and The other end of spring as frictionally engages a face of iron 66, sutflcicnt force being exerted thereby to normally urge rocker arm 56 counter-clockwise and thus maintain cam follower 58 in engagement with cam 56. The bracket :72 is provided with a stop screw 66 which, as will be noted from an examination of FIGURE 8, serves to limit the amount that rocker arm 56 can rotate clockwise during the actual tab-forming operation.

With the work and the tab-forming assembly 38 disposed as shown in FIGURE 6, the operating lever 18 of the arbor press (FIG. 1) is manipulated to effect a downward stroke of ram 20. As the ram moves downwardly, initially, the entire tab-fonming assembly 33 moves therewith as a unit, th flattening iron 6-9 thereof deflecting the pin 3 as shown in FEGURE 7. With the lower face of the flattening iron 63 now in engagement with the raised portion 41 of the top surface of the spacing anvil 4i and with the pin 3 constituting an obstacle in the path of the flattening iron '56, the downward stroke of the ram 26 continues but carries with it only the ram sleeve 4-4 and the cam attached to and depending therefrom. The force exerted by the cam 5% on its cam follower 53 during this portion of the downward stroke causes rocker arm 56 to rotate clockwise about its pivot 54. Clockwise rotation of rocker arm 56 causes the flattening iron which is attached thereto to swing with a wiping action against pin 3 while the plunger spring 48 continues to force flattening iron on downwardly under increasing pressure as the downward movement continues until, as shown in FIGURE 8, the pin 3 has been completely folded over with the resulting tab compressed between the lower face of flattening iron 6% and the top surface of spacing anvil During the final phase of the downward stroke of the ram 2! the entire force on the work is one of compression, the wiping action of the iron 68 having been arrested by the stop screw as which limits the clockwise rotation of rocker arm 56.

With one tab now formed, the ram 129 is retracted, the work is re-arranged on the adapter jig 24 and the tabforming operation is repeated on the other pin 3 in a similar manner. In the resultant article, shown in perspective in FIGURE 9, the tabs 3a of the pins 3 are spaced from the top surf cc of disc 1 an amount substantially equal to the thickness of the top surface of the spacing anvil 4%. Although the tabs 3a in FIGURE 9 are substantially parallel to one another and extend in opposite directions, the specific arrangement thereof as shown is not critical, but rather, a matter of choice, depending in part on the tab center spacing desired, regardless of the center spacing of the outer ends 3!; of the pins.

Although the specific embodiment of the apparatus of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described above as being associated with a semiautomatic, manually-operated unit, viz., an arbor press,

it will be rcadily understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art that the apparatus of my invention is readily adaptable to automatic equipment. For example, on an indexing, turret-type machine, a pin-staking assembly 25 could be located at each of two succeeding stations for the sequential staking of a pair of pins, and a tabforntiug assembly 3-3 could be located at each of two succeeding stations for the sequential formation of a pair of tabs. t the latter two stations, means could be provided for reciprocating a spacing anvil 46 into and out of position over the work and the adapter jig 24 on which it is seated.

his application is a division of my co-pending applicatio Serial Number 780,551, filed December 15, 1958, entitled Method of Staking and Forming Tabs, now Pa ent Number 3,068,555, issued December 18, 1962.

Whstl claim is:

1. Apparatus for bending and flattening a hollow pin extending above the working surface of an anvil, said apparatus comprising: a ram disposed above and spaced from said anvil; a tab-forming assembly supported by and depending from said ram, said tab-forming assembly com- .r- .no a sleeve attached to and depending from said ram, a cam attached to and depending from the peripheral portion of said sleeve, a spring-loaded plunger disposed within and depending from said sleeve, a rocker arm pivotally mounted on the depending portion of said plunger, a cam follower attached to said rocker arm and biased against said cam, and a flattening iron attached to and depending from said rocker arm; and means for moving said ram downwardly to effect the tab-forming operation, the entire said tab-forming assembly moving downwardly with said ram during the initial portion of the stroke thereof, the flattening iron moving into engagement with the working surface of said anvil during said initial portion of said stroke, and the said cam through the said cam follower moving the said rocker arm in a clockwise direction during the ensuing portion of the stroke of said ram whereby said flattening iron simultaneously deflects and flattens said hollow pin to form a tab.

2. Apparatus for bending and flattening a hollow pin extending above the working surface of an anvil, said apparatus comprising: a ram disposed above and spaced from said anvil; a tab-forming assembly supported by and depending from said ram, said tab-forming assembly comprising a sleeve attached to and depending from said ram, a cam attached to and depending from the peripheral portion of said sleeve, a spring-loaded plunger disposed within and depending from said sleeve, a rocker arm pivotally mounted on the depending portion of said plunger, a cam follower attached to said rocker arm and biased against said cam, and a flattening iron attached to and depending from said rocker arm, a portion of said flattening iron being in alignment with said pin; and means for moving said ram downwardly to effect the tab-forming operation, the entire said tab-formin g assembly moving downwardly with said ram during the initial portion of the stroke thereof, the flattening iron deflecting the pin slightly from the vertical and moving into engagement with the working surface of said anvil during said initial portion of said stroke, and the said cam through the said cam follower moving the said rocker arm in a clockwise direction during the ensuing portion of the stroke of said ram whereby said flattening iron simultaneously deflects and flattens said hollow pin to form a tab.

3. Apparatus for bending and flattening a hollow pin extendin above the working surface of an anvil, said apparatus comprising: a ram disposed above and spaced from said anvil; a tab-forming assembly supported by and depending from said ram, said tab-forming assembly comprising a sleeve attached to and depending from said ram, a cam attached to and depending from the peripheral portion of said sleeve, a spring-loaded plunger disposed within and depending from said sleeve, a rocker arm pivotally mounted on the depending portion of said plunger, a cam follower attached to said rocker arm and biased against said cam, a flattening iron attached to and depending from said rocker arm, and a stop attached to the depending portion of said plunger and engageable by said rocker arm; and means for moving said ram downwardly to eflect the tab-forming operation, the entire said tab-forming assembly moving downwardly with said ram during the initial portion of the stroke thereof, the flattening iron moving into engagement with the working surface of said anvil during said initial portion of said stroke, the said cam through the said cam follower moving the said rocker arm in a clockwise direction until it strikes said stop during a second portion of the stroke of said ram whereby said flattening iron simultaneously deflects and flattens said hollow pin to form a tab, and the said flatten- 15 ing iron further compressing said tab during the final portion of the stroke of said ram.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,228,767 Furber June 5, 1917 2,391,891 Frankel Jan. 1, 1946 2,690,727 Franks et al Oct. 5, 1954 2,936,808 Felt May 17, 1960 2,942,507 Fisches et al. June 28, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 936,026 Germany Dec. 1, 1955 

1. APPARATUS FOR BENDING AND FLATTENING A HOLLOW PIN EXTENDING ABOVE THE WORKING SURFACE OF AN ANVIL, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING: A RAM DISPOSED ABOVE AND SPACED FROM SAID ANVIL; A TAB-FORMING ASSEMBLY SUPPORTED BY AND DEPENDING FROM SAID RAM, SAID TAB-FORMING ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A SLEEVE ATTACHED TO AND DEPENDING FROM SAID RAM, A CAM ATTACHED TO AND DEPENDING FROM THE PERIPHERAL PORTION OF SAID SLEEVE, A SPRING-LOADED PLUNGER DISPOSED WITHIN AND DEPENDING FROM SAID SLEEVE, A ROCKER ARM PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON THE DEPENDING PORTION OF SAID PLUNGER, A CAM FOLLOWER ATTACHED TO SAID ROCKER ARM AND BIASED AGAINST SAID CAM, AND A FLATTENING IRON ATTACHED TO AND DEPENDING FROM SAID ROCKER ARM; AND MEANS FOR MOVING SAID RAM 